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If you want to revisit the California of 60 years ago, check out the new book "Maynard L. Parker: Modern Photography and the American Dream" (Yale, $65, 288 pages).

Informality, outdoor living and brilliant color were all style hallmarks of the era captured by Parker, who began his photography career by shooting Hollywood interiors and designer jewels, then spent about 30 years photographing homes, primarily for House Beautiful magazine.

Jennifer A. Watts, the new book's editor, is photography curator at the Huntington Library in San Marino and oversees its 58,000-image Parker archive. She says Parker's special talent was "showcasing residential interiors for a new American way of living (and) showing people what they should buy and how they should live." She adds, "Another strength was the way he used wide-angle lenses" to "give a sense of spaciousness" even to the interiors of small homes.